page_title: Southern Crossing (California)
section_title: India Basin–Alameda–Bay Farm Island
hierarchical_section_title: Southern Crossing (California) / History / Fifth proposal (1962–72): Southern alignments / India Basin–Alameda–Bay Farm Island
caption_attribution_description: English: Stub ramp on the I-280 viaduct - originally intended for the Hunters Point Freeway and/or Southern Crossing, neither of which were built - viewed from Potrero Hill in February 2019
context_page_description: The Southern Crossing is a proposed highway structure that would span San Francisco Bay in California, somewhere south of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and north of the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge. Several proposals have been made since 1947, varying in design and specific location, but none of them have ever been implemented because of cost, environmental and other concerns.
context_section_description: The Hunters Point/India Basin–Alameda–Bay Farm Island alignment was ultimately selected in April 1966 with a cable-stayed girder bridge over the main channel using an orthotropic deck. The design of the channel span was directed by the noted local architect William Stephen Allen, designed to harmonize with the neighboring Bay and San Mateo bridges. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission granted permits for construction of the Southern Crossing on November 6, 1969.
  Opposition to the Southern Crossing was led by the Sierra Club and notable local politicians, including state senator George Moscone; Assemblymembers Willie Brown, John Burton, John Foran, and Leo McCarthy; and Supervisors Dianne Feinstein, Terry Francois, Robert E. Gonzalez, Robert H. Mendelsohn, and Ron Pelosi. In San Francisco, Francois and Gonzalez argued the estimated $500 million cost of the Southern Crossing project would be better spent on rapid transit, and Mendelsohn and Pelosi introduced a resolution to require the project to evaluate its impact on BART. Support for the Southern Crossing was largely from legislators representing districts outside the Bay Area; local polls from early 1972 showed that nearly two-thirds of Bay Area residents opposed the Southern Crossing.
  The scheduled start of construction was delayed until late 1971, and the anticipated completion date was 1975. Because of its potential to siphon riders (and revenue) away from the nascent BART system, the California State Assembly ordered the Toll Bridge Authority to reconsider the Southern Crossing in 1970. In February 1971, the Toll Bridge Authority concluded in a report published after holding two public meetings in San Francisco and Oakland that "It is in the public interest to begin construction on this needed facility [the Southern Crossing] as soon as possible." At the Oakland meeting, held the preceding December, chief engineer E. R. "Mike" Foley of the Toll Bridge Authority argued the Southern Crossing was needed to support cargo traffic and to relieve congestion on the Bay Bridge, but local politicians opposing the new bridge cited pollution concerns and the possibility of increased traffic jams due to induced demand.
  The 1971 report concluded that BART revenues would be minimally affected, as the Southern Crossing would provide access to southern San Francisco and northern San Mateo County, while BART would serve downtown San Francisco instead. At the time, the Bay Bridge was operating at well over its designed capacity, serving 165,000 vehicles per day, on average. BART was anticipated to divert 10% of existing traffic to provide some relief, but by 1980, it was projected the Bay Bridge would see 190,000 vehicles per day while BART would move 143,000 trans-Bay commuters daily. If the Southern Crossing had been built, it was projected that in 1980, Bay Bridge traffic would be reduced to 148,000 vehicles per day, the Transbay Tube would serve 138,000 daily commuters, and the Southern Crossing would be operating at 105,000 vehicles per day.
  In March 1971, Assemblymember Robert W. Crown (D-Alameda) sponsored AB 151, which would give the final decision to proceed with the construction to the legislature, taking that choice away from Bay Toll Crossings. Although it passed both houses with overwhelming majorities, AB 151 was vetoed by Governor Ronald Reagan, who stated the citizens of the Bay Area should be allowed to vote for the approval of the Southern Crossing directly. The Assembly was unable to override the veto, and two regional measures were put on the ballot for six Bay Area counties in the June 6, 1972 election: one that would give the final approval for the Southern Crossing to the legislature, which voters approved, and another (Proposition A) which would issue bonds to fund the Southern Crossing, which was defeated.
caption: A ghost ramp (lower level) on the Interstate 280 viaduct in San Francisco, originally intended as part of an interchange with the Southern Crossing
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